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Before I begin, I’d just like to say that this is not going to be the old "Do games cause violence" thing. OK? Right, with that out the way, let’s get started.
Everyone on the Earth seems to value morals and ethics higher than anything else. If you’re a moral person, then you’re a good person. But recently I found out that in Metal Gear Solid 2, there is a point where you have to shoot a pregnant women. In all fairness shooting anyone’s wrong, but a pregnant women? Whoever came up with that must have been sick... Possibly.
Morality has never been abundant in video games. Look at the Rainbow 6 games. Going around on Covert Ops surreptitiously killing people is hardly morally correct is it? The same goes for games like Cannon Fodder and Sudden Strike. But surely none of that’s as bad as killing a pregnant women, is it?
The thing is though, (And here’s the age-old argument) it IS just a game. It’s not real. But even so...
So, here’s the question. Would you not play a certain because of the moral issues it raises?
Let’s look at this from two points of view.
For: 1) Games are just that, games, they’re not real and they never will be.
2) For nearly everyone who plays’s videogames, they are an escape. An escape, possibly, from some kind of trauma that’s happening to them at that time. An escape from anything really. Just somewhere to let off steam and unleash their anger and aggression.
3) Although this might sound a bit perverted, I enjoy doing things like that in games. You can do things that you would never be able to do in real life. Like breaking into a military base and dropping a bomb in there. Or, indeed, shooting a pregnant women. Of course I would never do anything so disgusting in real life because it’s sick, horrible and a stupid waste. But games are made so people can do things that they’ve never done before, and are likely never to do... ever.
Conclusion: It’s actually all right for things like this to be put into games. Everyone knows and understands the fact that games are games, real life is real life and there is a huge difference between the two. In all honesty, if developers were denied the freedom that they are given to put anything, within reason, into games then you’d find a lot of people getting frustrated and maybe ending up doing something stupid. As I said, they are an escape. If you deny someone something then they are going to want it more and more.
And now for the flip side of the coin.
Against: 1) It’s plain sick. Shooting a pregnant women, in effect killing two lives, is horrible. Some people out there do have difficulty understanding the difference between reality and games. It’s not their fault, some have brain disorders, some are Ortistic… it just happens and no one can be blamed for it. The fact is, however unlikely, someone COULD be influenced by it and could be driven to something stupid and regretful.
2) There’s going to be a whole lot of backlash when MSG2 gets released if it has this in it. Angry parents and Clergymen are going to be protesting mightily about the "Damage it might cause to our children’s minds" It would be a whole lot easier for Konami and Sony to take it out and not suffer the public rebuke they are going to face.
Overall Conclusion: On the whole I think it’s perfectly fine to have scenes like this in games. As long as it’s understood by the general public that it’s just a game, and that little Tommy isn’t going to go nick a gun and blow someone’s brains out. Parents have to understand that children aren’t as stupid and easily warped as they think. If a parent or indeed anyone has a concern about this kind of thing then they should have a little talk with their child and make sure they understand what’s what, and that doing things like that in real life would be thoughtless, wasteful, regrettable and daft.
So my answer to my own question. Would I not play a game because of the moral issues it raises? No, I know what’s what. What’s real and what’s not. And I understand that doing something like that is wrong. I’m just playing the game for fun and nothing more.
Your thoughts?
RBS
Everyone on the Earth seems to value morals and ethics higher than anything else. If you’re a moral person, then you’re a good person. But recently I found out that in Metal Gear Solid 2, there is a point where you have to shoot a pregnant women. In all fairness shooting anyone’s wrong, but a pregnant women? Whoever came up with that must have been sick... Possibly.
Morality has never been abundant in video games. Look at the Rainbow 6 games. Going around on Covert Ops surreptitiously killing people is hardly morally correct is it? The same goes for games like Cannon Fodder and Sudden Strike. But surely none of that’s as bad as killing a pregnant women, is it?
The thing is though, (And here’s the age-old argument) it IS just a game. It’s not real. But even so...
So, here’s the question. Would you not play a certain because of the moral issues it raises?
Let’s look at this from two points of view.
For: 1) Games are just that, games, they’re not real and they never will be.
2) For nearly everyone who plays’s videogames, they are an escape. An escape, possibly, from some kind of trauma that’s happening to them at that time. An escape from anything really. Just somewhere to let off steam and unleash their anger and aggression.
3) Although this might sound a bit perverted, I enjoy doing things like that in games. You can do things that you would never be able to do in real life. Like breaking into a military base and dropping a bomb in there. Or, indeed, shooting a pregnant women. Of course I would never do anything so disgusting in real life because it’s sick, horrible and a stupid waste. But games are made so people can do things that they’ve never done before, and are likely never to do... ever.
Conclusion: It’s actually all right for things like this to be put into games. Everyone knows and understands the fact that games are games, real life is real life and there is a huge difference between the two. In all honesty, if developers were denied the freedom that they are given to put anything, within reason, into games then you’d find a lot of people getting frustrated and maybe ending up doing something stupid. As I said, they are an escape. If you deny someone something then they are going to want it more and more.
And now for the flip side of the coin.
Against: 1) It’s plain sick. Shooting a pregnant women, in effect killing two lives, is horrible. Some people out there do have difficulty understanding the difference between reality and games. It’s not their fault, some have brain disorders, some are Ortistic… it just happens and no one can be blamed for it. The fact is, however unlikely, someone COULD be influenced by it and could be driven to something stupid and regretful.
2) There’s going to be a whole lot of backlash when MSG2 gets released if it has this in it. Angry parents and Clergymen are going to be protesting mightily about the "Damage it might cause to our children’s minds" It would be a whole lot easier for Konami and Sony to take it out and not suffer the public rebuke they are going to face.
Overall Conclusion: On the whole I think it’s perfectly fine to have scenes like this in games. As long as it’s understood by the general public that it’s just a game, and that little Tommy isn’t going to go nick a gun and blow someone’s brains out. Parents have to understand that children aren’t as stupid and easily warped as they think. If a parent or indeed anyone has a concern about this kind of thing then they should have a little talk with their child and make sure they understand what’s what, and that doing things like that in real life would be thoughtless, wasteful, regrettable and daft.
So my answer to my own question. Would I not play a game because of the moral issues it raises? No, I know what’s what. What’s real and what’s not. And I understand that doing something like that is wrong. I’m just playing the game for fun and nothing more.
Your thoughts?
RBS
Page:
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Before I begin, I’d just like to say that this is not going to be the old "Do games cause violence" thing. OK? Right, with that out the way, let’s get started.
Everyone on the Earth seems to value morals and ethics higher than anything else. If you’re a moral person, then you’re a good person. But recently I found out that in Metal Gear Solid 2, there is a point where you have to shoot a pregnant women. In all fairness shooting anyone’s wrong, but a pregnant women? Whoever came up with that must have been sick... Possibly.
Morality has never been abundant in video games. Look at the Rainbow 6 games. Going around on Covert Ops surreptitiously killing people is hardly morally correct is it? The same goes for games like Cannon Fodder and Sudden Strike. But surely none of that’s as bad as killing a pregnant women, is it?
The thing is though, (And here’s the age-old argument) it IS just a game. It’s not real. But even so...
So, here’s the question. Would you not play a certain because of the moral issues it raises?
Let’s look at this from two points of view.
For: 1) Games are just that, games, they’re not real and they never will be.
2) For nearly everyone who plays’s videogames, they are an escape. An escape, possibly, from some kind of trauma that’s happening to them at that time. An escape from anything really. Just somewhere to let off steam and unleash their anger and aggression.
3) Although this might sound a bit perverted, I enjoy doing things like that in games. You can do things that you would never be able to do in real life. Like breaking into a military base and dropping a bomb in there. Or, indeed, shooting a pregnant women. Of course I would never do anything so disgusting in real life because it’s sick, horrible and a stupid waste. But games are made so people can do things that they’ve never done before, and are likely never to do... ever.
Conclusion: It’s actually all right for things like this to be put into games. Everyone knows and understands the fact that games are games, real life is real life and there is a huge difference between the two. In all honesty, if developers were denied the freedom that they are given to put anything, within reason, into games then you’d find a lot of people getting frustrated and maybe ending up doing something stupid. As I said, they are an escape. If you deny someone something then they are going to want it more and more.
And now for the flip side of the coin.
Against: 1) It’s plain sick. Shooting a pregnant women, in effect killing two lives, is horrible. Some people out there do have difficulty understanding the difference between reality and games. It’s not their fault, some have brain disorders, some are Ortistic… it just happens and no one can be blamed for it. The fact is, however unlikely, someone COULD be influenced by it and could be driven to something stupid and regretful.
2) There’s going to be a whole lot of backlash when MSG2 gets released if it has this in it. Angry parents and Clergymen are going to be protesting mightily about the "Damage it might cause to our children’s minds" It would be a whole lot easier for Konami and Sony to take it out and not suffer the public rebuke they are going to face.
Overall Conclusion: On the whole I think it’s perfectly fine to have scenes like this in games. As long as it’s understood by the general public that it’s just a game, and that little Tommy isn’t going to go nick a gun and blow someone’s brains out. Parents have to understand that children aren’t as stupid and easily warped as they think. If a parent or indeed anyone has a concern about this kind of thing then they should have a little talk with their child and make sure they understand what’s what, and that doing things like that in real life would be thoughtless, wasteful, regrettable and daft.
So my answer to my own question. Would I not play a game because of the moral issues it raises? No, I know what’s what. What’s real and what’s not. And I understand that doing something like that is wrong. I’m just playing the game for fun and nothing more.
Your thoughts?
RBS
Everyone on the Earth seems to value morals and ethics higher than anything else. If you’re a moral person, then you’re a good person. But recently I found out that in Metal Gear Solid 2, there is a point where you have to shoot a pregnant women. In all fairness shooting anyone’s wrong, but a pregnant women? Whoever came up with that must have been sick... Possibly.
Morality has never been abundant in video games. Look at the Rainbow 6 games. Going around on Covert Ops surreptitiously killing people is hardly morally correct is it? The same goes for games like Cannon Fodder and Sudden Strike. But surely none of that’s as bad as killing a pregnant women, is it?
The thing is though, (And here’s the age-old argument) it IS just a game. It’s not real. But even so...
So, here’s the question. Would you not play a certain because of the moral issues it raises?
Let’s look at this from two points of view.
For: 1) Games are just that, games, they’re not real and they never will be.
2) For nearly everyone who plays’s videogames, they are an escape. An escape, possibly, from some kind of trauma that’s happening to them at that time. An escape from anything really. Just somewhere to let off steam and unleash their anger and aggression.
3) Although this might sound a bit perverted, I enjoy doing things like that in games. You can do things that you would never be able to do in real life. Like breaking into a military base and dropping a bomb in there. Or, indeed, shooting a pregnant women. Of course I would never do anything so disgusting in real life because it’s sick, horrible and a stupid waste. But games are made so people can do things that they’ve never done before, and are likely never to do... ever.
Conclusion: It’s actually all right for things like this to be put into games. Everyone knows and understands the fact that games are games, real life is real life and there is a huge difference between the two. In all honesty, if developers were denied the freedom that they are given to put anything, within reason, into games then you’d find a lot of people getting frustrated and maybe ending up doing something stupid. As I said, they are an escape. If you deny someone something then they are going to want it more and more.
And now for the flip side of the coin.
Against: 1) It’s plain sick. Shooting a pregnant women, in effect killing two lives, is horrible. Some people out there do have difficulty understanding the difference between reality and games. It’s not their fault, some have brain disorders, some are Ortistic… it just happens and no one can be blamed for it. The fact is, however unlikely, someone COULD be influenced by it and could be driven to something stupid and regretful.
2) There’s going to be a whole lot of backlash when MSG2 gets released if it has this in it. Angry parents and Clergymen are going to be protesting mightily about the "Damage it might cause to our children’s minds" It would be a whole lot easier for Konami and Sony to take it out and not suffer the public rebuke they are going to face.
Overall Conclusion: On the whole I think it’s perfectly fine to have scenes like this in games. As long as it’s understood by the general public that it’s just a game, and that little Tommy isn’t going to go nick a gun and blow someone’s brains out. Parents have to understand that children aren’t as stupid and easily warped as they think. If a parent or indeed anyone has a concern about this kind of thing then they should have a little talk with their child and make sure they understand what’s what, and that doing things like that in real life would be thoughtless, wasteful, regrettable and daft.
So my answer to my own question. Would I not play a game because of the moral issues it raises? No, I know what’s what. What’s real and what’s not. And I understand that doing something like that is wrong. I’m just playing the game for fun and nothing more.
Your thoughts?
RBS
Page: